


family edition

by brokke



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Board Games, Camping, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Snapshots, Team Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:47:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26799064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brokke/pseuds/brokke
Summary: "The gift of immortality, Jack, and you weren't paying attention to the culinary industry. Shame on you."
Relationships: Gwen Cooper & Jack Harkness & Owen Harper & Ianto Jones & Toshiko Sato
Comments: 8
Kudos: 37





	family edition

**Author's Note:**

> from a tumblr prompt by @horselover107 :)

Jack Harkness, half-illuminated by the light of the fire, surveyed the scene around him with pleasure. He watched their eyes on him from all sides of the table, quieting their breathing whilst they waited for his move; he felt an odd satisfaction at what he could do to the faces surrounding him, thinking over the chaos the next few moments could wreak.

_All can change with the roll of a dice._

He cleared his throat and sat back with a theatrical grin.

"Five places," he said. "Yellow. That's history."

"Fuck you, Harkness."

Jack gave nothing but a wink.

"Not to take Jack's side or anything -"

"Thank you, Gwen."

She shot him an insincere glare. "But, Owen? You've yet to land on Science and Nature."

"She does have a point," Jack added.

Owen leaned forward, beer in one hand, a look of sheer outrage on his face. "Science and _nature._ Nature. You heard Ianto's question -"

"Which is classed as a mollusc -" Ianto cut in, squinting into the middle distance as he recited the question. "Earthworm, maggot, or slug?"

Owen waved a hand in his direction. "Exactly. How the bloody hell am I supposed to know that?"

"Ianto knew," Tosh pointed out. She sat in the camping chair with her legs pulled underneath her, a blanket draped over her shoulders. 

"That's Ianto."

"Meaning?"

"You -" Owen swallowed a mouthful of beer - "Are exactly the guy I'd expect to know it's a slug."

Ianto paused for a moment, considering the statement before nodding with a shrug. 

"Anyway," Jack said. "Gwen? My card."

She reached for the box with a sigh, pulling a card from the front of the pile. Covering the back of it with one hand, she crossed one leg over her knee and sat back to read it.

"Alright. Which of these revolutionary kitchen-" she cut off for a moment, stifling a laugh. "Kitchen products was invented first - Teflon, Pyrex, or Tupperware?"

With a slight sinking feeling, Jack bit his lip, crossing his arms over his chest and keeping his face neutral. He took a breath, glancing away from Owen's slow look of glee, or Ianto's smile unsuccessfully buried in his drink.

Tosh, sitting across from him, was the first to speak, leaning to her right to give a mock whisper to Owen. "I don't think he knows..."

"He doesn't know," Owen repeated, raising his hands in victory. "The immortal man doesn't know-"

Speechless for a rare second, Jack opened his mouth and rushed to justify it. "I was likely very preoccupied when this revolution was happening-"

"The gift of immortality, Jack, and you weren't paying attention to the culinary industry. Shame on you." 

" _Preoccupied,_ " he said again, putting a strain on the syllables.

"I don't think we want to know, actually," Gwen added, receiving affirmative hums from the others.

Jack raised his eyebrows, emphasising his annoyance for the sake of hearing their laughter. "No one told me it's pick-on-the-boss-day," he said. "Wasn't all fun and games."

He was suddenly grateful that Ianto, ever the observant one, chose this moment to move on. Whatever Jack had been doing during the invention of kitchen products, it wasn't something to dwell on. 

"Giving up?"

With a deep breath, Jack gave in. "Yeah. Yeah, sure. Happy, Owen?"

Owen grinned back at him. "Can't believe you lost that one. You were there..." 

"I wasn't _cooking._ "

Ianto gave a slow nod. "Relevant to this day," he replied.

Jack narrowed his eyes. Ianto only shrugged. 

"Team cooking challenge-?" Gwen suggested, partially joking. "Any takers?"

"Fuck, no."

"I'd consider it," Tosh spoke up, "But only if we survive Trivial Pursuit."

"Unlikely."

"Yeah."

Jack looked down at the board, noticing the counters each member held - they all had one singular point, besides Tosh, with two, and Ianto, with four wins out of four turns. Considering Ianto had packed the game before they left the Hub, Jack realised he may have to interfere with the next mission's choice of entertainment. One person here had a significant advantage. 

"Ahem," Ianto said, and they turned to face him. "Pyrex. Nineteen-oh-eight."

Gwen turned the card over, as if she'd ever need to check. "Uh... yes. Again."

"Doesn't get you a point, mate," Owen said.

"It's all about the sense of accomplishment." 

Gwen picked up the dice from the table and passed it to Owen, who sat on Jack's left.

"Your turn," she said. "No cheese for Jack."

"Sorry?" Tosh asked.

"The counters," Gwen said, holding a piece of triangular plastic into the light. "Look like cheese." 

Owen nodded. "Fucking do as well."

His throw landed neatly on the other side of the table, and Ianto leaned forward to read the number.

"Two." 

Owen stood and surveyed the board, weighing up his options; there were two places he could move to from his current position, one of which he had already won. With a sigh of acceptance, he reached out and moved his piece counter-clockwise three spaces, landing on a purple triangle. 

Gwen laughed behind her hand.

"Arts and Literature," Owen announced, with the face of a man defeated. "Do I look like someone who-"

"Tell you what," Ianto said, with an unexpected devious smile. "Your loss is going to be almost as embarrassing as Jack's. And since this is a family edition of the game - next round, you can both pick one of the kid's question cards."

* * *

Jack found a small, yellow triangle in his pocket the next morning. Gazing at the number of beer bottles they'd left from the night before, he settled for having no idea how it got there; he returned it to his pocket regardless. If a piece of plastic served as a reminder of a night when the whole team smiled, then that was fine by him.


End file.
